The End

The end spiraled down and went very fast. A lot went on during the end of the book. The fishing trip really effected the patients and showed them that life goes on. It almost helped them come to a realization that the world doesn't stop and it keeps going with or without them. The patients needed that awakening. McMurphy and Chief get put in the disturbed ward for protecting George from soap. They start a riot and fight with the black boys and this doesn't go over well with the hospital. This fight sparks the want to get McMurphy out of the ward to escape, but McMurphy doesn't want to escape because he wants to stick around for Billy's date with Candy. He also feels the need to stay and leave his loyalty with the patients. I feel like he does this and thinks this because he doesn't want to give the Big Nurse the last of the satisfaction of winning.

Billy is just one of the patients who has been changed by McMurphy, he has his little date with Candy and is caught but he isn't afraid and he doesn't stutter, this is apparent when he greats the Big Nurse, "Good morning, Miss Ratched," Billy said, not even making any move to get up and bottom his pajamas. He took the girl's hand in his and grinned." (Kesey 263). Chief changes as well, when he is faced with choice to have to decide what the fate of McMurphy's body is, he decides to put him out of his misery and kill him. I didn't expect him to have the courage to do this, but I also believe that he felt like he had to honor his friend and do what was best for him and the hospital. Chief didn't want McMurphy to end up being the example of what happens when you go against the rules of the hospital. It was hard for him and it showed when he was crying. At the end I believe that Chief finally becomes himself again, or at least he is trying to find himself. For the first time in the book we see some sense of clarity in all the "fog" (Kesey 14). The Chief is back, back and thinking like a real person, "I been away a long time." (Kesey 272).

Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. New York: Penguin Book, 1962. Print.